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Bison roam on ranch in Charlotte County

Some of 2,400 bison, the largest herd in Florida, graze on grasses at the 5,700-acre Three Suns Ranch between Punta Gorda and Arcadia on June 11, 2013. The Bison were largely acquired during selloffs of entire herds in drought-stricken sections of the Midwest last fall.

Published: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 4:51 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 4:51 p.m.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - It may seem somewhat out of place against Charlotte County's waterways and wide-open spaces, but the largest bison herd in Florida is on a 5,700-acre ranch half an hour east of Punta Gorda.

With new owners in place, this former beef cattle spread off Highway 31 is also a grand experiment in sustainable agriculture.

The new owners, a family investment group headed by former manufacturing company chief executive Rodger B. Dowdell Jr., originally planned to have 500 bison by now — a year after buying the ranch for $18 million.

Those plans didn't work out.

Instead, Dowdell's group went on a buying spree last fall and now own 2,400 bison, animals whose meat is prized as a relatively healthy alternative to beef.

The bison were available largely as a result of the Midwest drought last summer, which crippled farmers and ranchers alike and pushed Three Suns into high gear.

"At first, it was a lot of work to find the animals," Dowdell said. "Then, a severe drought began forcing many ranchers in the nation's midsection to liquidate. Our phones started ringing from Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas."

Three Suns, which has a plentiful water supply, suddenly found itself home to 2,000 bison. Four hundred females have since given birth to calves.

It is a fairly safe bet that none of them had seen a palm tree before last August.

But the animals have adjusted. Most of the adults are shedding their cold-weather fur for a sleeker Florida coat.

"I think without a doubt that would make it the largest herd in Florida," said Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association. "Two-thousand is a really good-sized operation, by any stretch of the imagination."

Dowdell, 64, also has had to adjust.

Ranching in Southwest Florida is a long way from Rhode Island, where Dowdell was president, chief executive and chairman of American Power Conversion Corp.

After the maker of uninterrupted power supplies went public in 1988, its stock split several times before French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric S.A. bought the company for $6.1 billion in cash in January 2007.

The sale gave Dowdell the means to acquire plenty of bison: He reportedly walked away from APC with a pre-tax check for $433.5 million.

Dowdell owes his bison affiliation to his son-in-law, Keith Mann.

A medic in the U.S. Army Special Forces, Mann was casting about for a career in the civilian world at the beginning of last year, just as his family began adopting the "Paleo Diet," a health craze that favors grass-fed meat over corn-fed beef that tends to have a greater fat content.

The new diet introduced them to bison steaks and ground bison, and got Mann thinking.

"To me it tastes like eating beef, but the nutritional benefits are more like fish," said Jamie Dowdell, whose husband, David, is one of Rodger's brothers. The couple now manage Three Suns.

Mann and Dowdell's interest comes as bison meat is becoming more readily available to the average consumer.

In Sarasota, The Fresh Market on University Parkway sells ground bison for $9.99 per pound. Elsewhere, sites such as BuffaloGal.com will ship bison steaks or ground meat anywhere in the United States. It comes packed in dry ice and is shipped by FedEx.

The Dowdells acknowledge the extra cost, but believe a growing segment of health-conscious Americans will believe it's worth it.

"It is more expensive than industrialized beef, typically double or thereabouts," said Rodger Dowdell.

Three Suns is not the first bison operation to sprout in Florida. Over the years, a number of mostly smaller ranches have tried their hand at raising them.

Each has run into trouble in getting the animals to market.

Unlike cattle, bison are not domesticated. They are wild animals and can become dangerous if cornered.

What is more, their meat becomes ruined if they are subject to too much stress.

To solve the quandary, Three Suns plans to forego shipping the bison off for slaughter. Instead, it plans to bring the slaughterhouse to them.

Before long, Three Suns will be home to a mobile processing unit, or MPU, built into a semi-truck trailer. It is considered the latest in humane livestock-raising.

"They walk in and come out in packages," said Geoffrey Dahl, chairman of the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Dahl's institute, thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will inspect Three Suns' MPU, and if it signs off, the ranch will become a USDA-authorized meat processing operation.

That process may be somewhat daunting, but it will likely pale in comparison to just getting the bison to Florida, said Rodger Dowdell.

"You load them up in livestock trucks. But unlike with cattle, you cannot stop. You must drive continuously. You have two drivers and you drive straight through, 30 to 34 hours from South Dakota and Western Kansas."

Now that the herd is established, Dowdell is focusing on sustainability at the ranch.

The animals have helped.

They subsist almost entirely on the high grass that grows naturally at the ranch, meaning there is no need to import the corn that is typically used to fatten up cattle prior to slaughter.

Dowdell even has a plan to keep shipping costs down once the bison become meat. He plans to target Florida markets with legions of health-conscious retirees, rather than shoulder the expense of shipping the meat to other states.

It is likely Mike Quillen will be among Three Suns' first customers.

Quillen's Gecko's Grill and Pub restaurants have long featured bison burgers on the menu, but he has had to get it shipped frozen from the Northwest or even Canada.

With Three Suns as a potential supplier, Quillen also plans to offer bison burgers at S'macks, a new diner-style restaurant his company is opening in July at Bee Ridge Road and Shade Avenue.

"We have researched bison in Florida for many years," Quillen said. "Butchering — that was always the impediment. Nobody wanted to mess with them.

<p><em>CHARLOTTE COUNTY</em> - It may seem somewhat out of place against Charlotte County's waterways and wide-open spaces, but the largest bison herd in Florida is on a 5,700-acre ranch half an hour east of Punta Gorda.</p><p>With new owners in place, this former beef cattle spread off Highway 31 is also a grand experiment in sustainable agriculture.</p><p>The new owners, a family investment group headed by former manufacturing company chief executive Rodger B. Dowdell Jr., originally planned to have 500 bison by now — a year after buying the ranch for $18 million.</p><p>Those plans didn't work out.</p><p>Instead, Dowdell's group went on a buying spree last fall and now own 2,400 bison, animals whose meat is prized as a relatively healthy alternative to beef.</p><p>The bison were available largely as a result of the Midwest drought last summer, which crippled farmers and ranchers alike and pushed Three Suns into high gear.</p><p>"At first, it was a lot of work to find the animals," Dowdell said. "Then, a severe drought began forcing many ranchers in the nation's midsection to liquidate. Our phones started ringing from Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas."</p><p>Three Suns, which has a plentiful water supply, suddenly found itself home to 2,000 bison. Four hundred females have since given birth to calves.</p><p>It is a fairly safe bet that none of them had seen a palm tree before last August.</p><p>But the animals have adjusted. Most of the adults are shedding their cold-weather fur for a sleeker Florida coat.</p><p>"I think without a doubt that would make it the largest herd in Florida," said Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association. "Two-thousand is a really good-sized operation, by any stretch of the imagination."</p><p>Dowdell, 64, also has had to adjust.</p><p>Ranching in Southwest Florida is a long way from Rhode Island, where Dowdell was president, chief executive and chairman of American Power Conversion Corp.</p><p>After the maker of uninterrupted power supplies went public in 1988, its stock split several times before French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric S.A. bought the company for $6.1 billion in cash in January 2007.</p><p>The sale gave Dowdell the means to acquire plenty of bison: He reportedly walked away from APC with a pre-tax check for $433.5 million.</p><p>Dowdell owes his bison affiliation to his son-in-law, Keith Mann.</p><p>A medic in the U.S. Army Special Forces, Mann was casting about for a career in the civilian world at the beginning of last year, just as his family began adopting the "Paleo Diet," a health craze that favors grass-fed meat over corn-fed beef that tends to have a greater fat content.</p><p>The new diet introduced them to bison steaks and ground bison, and got Mann thinking.</p><p>"To me it tastes like eating beef, but the nutritional benefits are more like fish," said Jamie Dowdell, whose husband, David, is one of Rodger's brothers. The couple now manage Three Suns.</p><p>Mann and Dowdell's interest comes as bison meat is becoming more readily available to the average consumer.</p><p>In Sarasota, The Fresh Market on University Parkway sells ground bison for $9.99 per pound. Elsewhere, sites such as BuffaloGal.com will ship bison steaks or ground meat anywhere in the United States. It comes packed in dry ice and is shipped by FedEx. </p><p>The Dowdells acknowledge the extra cost, but believe a growing segment of health-conscious Americans will believe it's worth it.</p><p>"It is more expensive than industrialized beef, typically double or thereabouts," said Rodger Dowdell.</p><p>Three Suns is not the first bison operation to sprout in Florida. Over the years, a number of mostly smaller ranches have tried their hand at raising them. </p><p>Each has run into trouble in getting the animals to market.</p><p>Unlike cattle, bison are not domesticated. They are wild animals and can become dangerous if cornered. </p><p>What is more, their meat becomes ruined if they are subject to too much stress.</p><p>To solve the quandary, Three Suns plans to forego shipping the bison off for slaughter. Instead, it plans to bring the slaughterhouse to them.</p><p>Before long, Three Suns will be home to a mobile processing unit, or MPU, built into a semi-truck trailer. It is considered the latest in humane livestock-raising.</p><p>"They walk in and come out in packages," said Geoffrey Dahl, chairman of the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.</p><p>Dahl's institute, thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will inspect Three Suns' MPU, and if it signs off, the ranch will become a USDA-authorized meat processing operation.</p><p>That process may be somewhat daunting, but it will likely pale in comparison to just getting the bison to Florida, said Rodger Dowdell.</p><p>"You load them up in livestock trucks. But unlike with cattle, you cannot stop. You must drive continuously. You have two drivers and you drive straight through, 30 to 34 hours from South Dakota and Western Kansas."</p><p>Now that the herd is established, Dowdell is focusing on sustainability at the ranch.</p><p>The animals have helped.</p><p>They subsist almost entirely on the high grass that grows naturally at the ranch, meaning there is no need to import the corn that is typically used to fatten up cattle prior to slaughter.</p><p>Dowdell even has a plan to keep shipping costs down once the bison become meat. He plans to target Florida markets with legions of health-conscious retirees, rather than shoulder the expense of shipping the meat to other states.</p><p>It is likely Mike Quillen will be among Three Suns' first customers.</p><p>Quillen's Gecko's Grill and Pub restaurants have long featured bison burgers on the menu, but he has had to get it shipped frozen from the Northwest or even Canada.</p><p>With Three Suns as a potential supplier, Quillen also plans to offer bison burgers at S'macks, a new diner-style restaurant his company is opening in July at Bee Ridge Road and Shade Avenue.</p><p>"We have researched bison in Florida for many years," Quillen said. "Butchering — that was always the impediment. Nobody wanted to mess with them.</p><p>"Then Rodger comes along and makes the commitment."</p>